Doll cradle construction



March 31, 1942. M. KOWINSKI 1 4 DOLL CRADLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 18, 1959 2 sheets-#31195; 1

ATTORNEYS March 31, 1942.

M. KOWINSKI DOLL CRADLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct, 18, 195s 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR M KM ATTORN EYS Patented Mar. 31, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOLL CRADLE CONSTRUCTION Morris Kowinski, NewYork, N. Y. Application October 18, 1939, Serial No. 299,945

(or. 4c 177) 6- Claims.

This invention relates to toy cradles for dolls, and, in its preferred form, more particularly to such cradles designed to also form a carton in which a doll can be shipped, displayed for sale, and delivered to a customer in protected condition.

One feature of the invention resides in the provision, as a new article of manufacture, of a package intended to be shipped and sold as a complete unitary assembly, including a sales carton comprising desirably a cardboard box containing a doll, the box being preferably so shaped and decorated as to simulate the body portion of a cradle, and the assembly including a set of rockers formed of sheet material adapted to be packed in the carton when shipped and so constructed as to be readily attachable to the ends of the-carton without the use of tools and in such fashion as to convert the sales carton into a dolls cradle.

The device of the invention may also preferably embody a sales carton sealed with a top or closure member having a glazed window through which the doll may be viewed when the carton is displayed for sale, and which protects the contents of the carton from handling while so displayed as well as from injury during shipment. This closure is readily removable by a child when the rockers are to be taken out and the article set up as a cradle, the glazing being removable at will from the window to complete the cradle effect.

The sales carton may also be formed with means for holding neatly various articles of equipment for the doll, such means including preferably a drawer suitably constructed to fit within a convenient portion of the carton structure, so that it may be shipped therewith and can be easily manipulated by a child playing with the cradle.

According to another phase of the invention, the dolls cradle or carton, or the detachable rockers-therefor, may be provided with a voice constructed and arranged to utter a cry when the cradle is rocked, and actuated by virtue of such rocking movement.

I Various further and more specific objects, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and illustrate merely by way of example preferred forms of the apparatus of the invention. The invention consists in such novel features, arrangements and combinations of parts as may be shown and described in connection with the constructions herein disclosed.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a sales carton, in the construction of which the present invention has been embodied, the view illustrating also the assembly therewith of a set of rockers, by which the sales carton is converted into a cradle;

Fig. 2 is a view thereof in vertical, longitudinal section, taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in transverse vertical section, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. '1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail View in horizontal section of a modified form of attaching means for a rocker, the view being taken at the end of a carton like that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view, in vertical section, of another modified form of attaching means for a rocker;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view in vertical section, similar to Fig. 5, and showing still an other modified form of attachment for a rocker;

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical section on the line 1-1 of'Fi 6;

Fig. 8 is a view in vertical, longitudinal section of a modified form of sales carton, embodying the invention and shown with the rockers attached to the ends; and

Fig. 9 is a view in vertical, transverse section, taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8, and showing the device with the top swung open.

In a desirable embodiment of the invention selected for illustration and description, and referring particularly to the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the part designated at H is a container adapted to serve as a sales carton in pursuance of the invention, and which is constituted, in the instance illustrated, by a cardboard box adapted to receive a doll l2 and a set of rockers I3 made of suitable sheet material, which may also be cardboard. These rockers are preferably identical in shape, or symmetrical with each other, and of suitable dimensions to be contained, within the sales carton when the latter is not set up as a cradle, as for example when it is packed for shipment or displayed for sale. The rockers, when so disposed within the carton, may occupy the position indicated by dash-dot lines in Fig. 3. The cardboard box may be of any suitable shape, and the surface l6 thereof may be ornamented if desired with a suitable design illustrative of any conventional cradle construction.

A closure I1 is preferably provided, and is here shown as a cardboard lid, which may desirably be formed with a window l8 having a glazing member H) of transparent material, such as isinglass, Cellophane or glassene, of sufiicient strength to protect the contents of the sales carton in storage and transit, and against undesired handling when on display. Preferably, however, the glazing member may be removed by rupturing it, or otherwise, to complete the open cradle eifect. When in place, it is intended that the doll may be readily viewed through the glazed window, for purposes of displaying it attractively for sale.

In order to set up the cradle, in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the cover I"! is first removed and the rockers 13 are taken out, after which the cover is replaced and the upper terminal or tongue 22 formed by the somewhat tapered shank 23 of each rocker is inserted between an end 24 of the carton and the overlying flange or downturned end edge 25 of the cover, such edge thus constituting an integral structural band adapted to retain each rocker in its upstanding operative position, as indicated in Figs. 1 to 3.

Suitable provision is preferably made for accommodating in the sales carton various articles of equipment for the doll, for which purpose a drawer 26 is illustrated, to hold a layette 21 of dolls clothing, while one or more compartments, as 28, may be provided to hold utensils, as indicated at 29.

As a modification, in order to mount the rockers so that their retention is effected independently of the presence or absence of the cover, the sales carton may desirably be formed with a slot, as shown at 30 in Fig. 8 in the box bottom 3|, one such slot being provided near each end edge of the bottom Wall, so that the shank 23 of each rocker may be inserted therethrough, extending upwardly within the box. And preferably a horizontal slit, as at 32, will be provided in each end wall, through which the tongue 22 of a rocker may be extended, the portion 33 of the box end serving with this construction as an integral structural band for retaining the rocker in position,

As another integral form of rocker retaining means, each end wall of the carton may be formed with a folded-over extension, either inwardly, as at 34 in Fig. 6, to cooperate. with a bottom slot 35, like that already described, or the folded-over portion may extend downwardly along the outer surface of the end wall, as. at 36, in Fig. 5, forming an end pocket, in. which pocket each rocker, when so installed, will" constitute a sturdy partof the carton structure.

Such an end pocket may also be formed, as illustrated in Fig. 4, by securing, adhesively, or in other suitable fashion, a band 31 of separately formed sheet material, suchas cardboard, across each end 38, and around the upright corner edges 39 of the box, the. rocker shank (not shown), being inserted in thepocket 40 as already described.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the sales carton is provided with a hinged lid 4| provided with a pocket strap 42 in which doll clothing, etc., may be fitted.

A strap, as 43, may be provided to hold" the lid at a desired angle, the strap, in the. instance illustrated, beingv shown as a separately formed metal device constructed and arranged with a supporting clip 44 at one'end to be forcedupon the upper edge 45 of the box, while the other end 46 serves as a finger to be inserted behind the fitment strap. In this form of the invention the drawer may be omitted and the glazed window may also be dispensed with, thus reducing the structural cost.

As above indicated the invention may also include provisoin for the cradle of a voice or crier to simulate the natural voice or cry of a baby, the voice element being constructed and arranged to be energized by virtue of the rocking movement of the cradle. For example in Fig. 3, there are illustrated crier attachments for the cradle designed to be secured to an edge of the bottom of the carton structure and comprising collapsible crier elements V of a type known per se, adapted to simulate the cry of a baby. The elements V may comprise a bellows 5| and a reed 52 which cooperate to constitute the sound-producing means, these being mounted upon a base 53 of suitable material, such as cardboard.

The elements V are intended to be attached by suitable means to the under edge of the cradle, as by anadhesive, or by wire stitching or the like, substantially in the positions illustrated in Fig. 3, one at each of the longer edges of the cradle, so that the bellows will engage the floor and a cry will be uttered when the cradle is rocked in either direction.

In order that no cry shall be made at times when the doll has been lifted from the cradle, which would or" course destroy the illusion that the doll itself is the source of the cry, provision may be made of means to retard the rocking of the cradle casually at such times, and as a suitable means for this purpose, a spring 54 may be provided within each of the crier elements. These springs may be of sufficient strength to prevent casual rocking of the cradle in the absence of the weight of the doll in the cradle, but of adequate yielding quality to allow the cradle to be rocked intentionally by a child, with compression of the bellows under the weight of the doll when in the cradle, whereupon the criers will sound as already described. The arrangement also at the same time provides the novel feature that the doll will be silent when taken up out of the cradle and while thus receiving attention.

With certain types of dolls formed of rubber, it is a difficult problem to insert a crier or voice within the doll structure itself, if the doll is to be of an inexpensive construction. The above described cradle or carton assembly therefore-provides aninexpensive arrangement whereby such dolls as sold may be suitably accompanied by a crier or .voice.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to certain particular preferred examples which give satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a doll carton, rocker means for supporting same in spaced relation to the floor, whereby the carton forms a doll crib, bellows means secured in respect to the lower portion of said carton and adapted to engage the floor and be compressed between the carton and the floor upon rocking of the carton onsaid rocker means, and a sound producing element adapted to be actuated by said bellows upon compression of the latter.

2. In combination, a cradle adapted to contain a doll, a voice or crier element mounted thereon, a portion of said element being adapted to engage the floor to compress and thereby actuate the voice or crier upon rocking movements of the cradle, and yieldable means for efiectively restraining such compression in the absence of the weight of a doll in the cradle, but said yieldable means being of insufiicient strength to substantially restrain such compression and rocking of the cradle when the cradle is weighted by the presence of a doll.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a dolls cradle, a set of rockers therefor, and a. plurality of voice or crier devices associated with opposite edges respectively of said cradle and adapted to be activated to utter a cry by virtue of a rocking movement of said cradle, whereby successive cries are uttered for each oscillation of the cradle.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a dolls cradle, a set of voice or crier elements therefor, constructed and arranged to be operated by opposite rocking movements of said cradle when a suitable degree of rocking pressure is applied to the cradle, and means to retard casual rocking movements and thus to prevent unintended operation of the said elements.

5. In combination, a dolls crib assembly having rockers extending transversely of the ends thereof, a drawer casing mounted on the bottom of said crib between said rockers, bellows means mounted at the bottom of said drawer casing and adapted to engage-the floor and be compressed between the said casing and the floor upon rocking of the crib on said rockers, and a sound producing element at said bellows and adapted to be actuated thereby upon each such compression, to

utter a cry.

6. In combination, a dolls crib assembly havrockers extending transversely of the ends thereof, a pair of bellows mounted respectively at each side of the crib and adjacent the bottom thereof and adapted to engage the fioor and be compressed between the crib and the floor upon rocking of the crib, and sound producing elements at each of said bellows and adapted to be actuated thereby upon each such compression, to utter successive cries alternately for each oscillation of the crib.

MORRIS KOWINSKI. 

